---
title: "Watch – Is the UN still relevant?"
description: "Listen as Redi Tlhabi speaks with political scientist and PARI executive director Dr Sithembile Mbete about the United Nations at a moment of deep, deep strain. They talk through why decades of debate on Security Council reform have led nowhere, how the veto entrenches global inequality, and what this paralysis means for Africa and the global South. It is a conversation about privilege, stalled change, and the kind of crisis that may be required to finally force reform."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "THE READINESS REPORT"
author: "Redi Tlhabi"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/redi-tlhabi/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-01-14-watch-is-the-un-still-relevant/"
published: "2026-01-14T20:13:59"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 60
---

# Watch – Is the UN still relevant?

> Listen as Redi Tlhabi speaks with political scientist and PARI executive director Dr Sithembile Mbete about the United Nations at a moment of deep, deep strain. They talk through why decades of debate on Security Council reform have led nowhere, how the veto entrenches global inequality, and what this paralysis means for Africa and the global South. It is a conversation about privilege, stalled change, and the kind of crisis that may be required to finally force reform.

By Redi Tlhabi · Published 14 January 2026, 22:13 SAST

## Content

[YouTube video: "YouTube video"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QSW5Z64Rvs)

This episode was made possible thanks to [The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom](https://www.freiheit.org/sub-saharan-africa).

Hosted by: Redi Tlhabi 
Guest: Sithembile Mbete 
Edited by: Joel Seboa 
Produced by: Emilie Gambade & Joel Seboa 
Original Theme Music & Design by: Bernard Kotze

You can listen to the podcast everywhere, including Spotify! 
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